Days Won

Forums

Everything posted by Ride Delaware ?

Go ahead, lets hear it... Its only November 16th and the real winter season hasn't started yet... Well I don't want to fucking hear it anymore... This up and down weather is cramping my style... If it would even stick to the long term averages then we would be skiing and riding at several mountains by now... Its cold a couple days, then warm a week... I am obviously going through some serious snowboarding withdraw right now... There is hope in the ten day forecast... If it holds then maybe some PA mountains will be open the first weekend in December... Maybe... Why does Northeast weather suck so bad right now!!!
Rant Done... Think Cold... Pray Snow...

Just a little more information. Generally speaking, we don’t believe in grooming black diamonds at Sugarbush. We believe diamonds by definition have bumps. That being said, they will groom Stein’s, Ripcord, and Organgrinder at South on occasion, and very very rarely FIS at North.

Well... Being that I patrol at Sugarbush, I may be able to lend some insight. Furthermore, as a volunteer patroller, I have the ability to choose which mountain I patrol at, and I exclusively choose Sugarbush North. That being said, here are my thoughts on North as a “family” mountain. While $30 is a great deal, and we have lots of people who take advantage of it, the one thing North lacks is beginner terrain. The majority of the true beginner terrain is off of the Sunny Q lift, but it is really only Crackerjack. Graduation and Sugar Run are labeled as beginner runs, but Sugar Run has terrain features on it, and Graduation is typically ungroomed. If we head up the I, which likely won’t be open on Thursday, which means you would have to take GMX then traverse across Northway, Walt’s and Semi Tough are both labeled as green, but once again are ungroomed. If you go up GMX, the only green is North Star, which is a perfect green trail. However, lower North Star has a pretty steep pitch that throws beginners for a loop. Main Stream is a much mellower green trail, but all traffic funnels down it so it can get icy. Cruiser and Which Way are both off GMX as well, and are labeled Blue, but they are both mellow. I would rate them between a green and blue. They can both easily be skied by a lower level intermediate. If you decide to go up Summit or North Ridge, the only semi-green run that is labeled a blue along the lines of Which Way and Cruiser, is Rim Run. It has some pitches near the end, but overall is mellow. Looking good is also a good intermediate trail. I would only label it a blue because of consistent pitch and the lift towers. Elbow is also off North Ridge, but it is solidly in the intermediate category. Overall, I would say that South gives you more overall options for true beginners, but if you ski/ride at a low intermediate level, then you can enjoy yourself at North. How many in your crew and what level skiers/riders are they?

You should have stopped in the patrol shack Kyle. I haven’t been up much this season, but I was up last weekend hanging out at Summit Saturday and Sunday. Conditions were good. Woods were good. Coverage darn near perfect. Reks is an awesome little bar. Dino is awesome. The Notorious P.I.G. is a killer sandwich...

Unfortunately, I’ve heard that is a pretty common reaction to volunteering at non-profits in Vermont. These people love the non-profit and the mission so much, that they just miss the point that it isn’t your job. It’s a hobby and you need to enjoy it. You’re doing it to help other people and the overall mission, not your personal ego. I have friends that have been treated the same way at a mountain biking club that creates and maintains trails in the MRV. Seems to force out all of the competent volunteers so that the incompetent ones can boost their ego and not accomplish things half as quickly or do the job half as well.

If they were somehow able to build their own little “village” with all the amenities they need, I’m sure they would do quite well. They could sell ski/water park packages, weddings, and have their own pretty decent restaurant. Nobody would need to leave unless they wanted to. I could see some people going to the casino, but who would go into the A?

My guess is they went the surcharge route so that they don’t have to “raise” lift ticket prices or change all their flyers/pricing boards. That way they can drop it easily if their complaints somehow get addressed. Still crappy and nobody else’s problem then their own, but that’s probably the reasoning I would take.

There are plenty of hotels down here with buses that go to the reception sites. My point is that shouldn’t make or break them using it as a wedding venue. However, I am sure that they would be able to sell hotel rooms in bunches if it ever got built.

Today marked the earliest day I’ve been on snow by 4 days. As usual, my wife and I got a later jump on the day than we had hoped, but we were still able to get on snow, and that’s all that really matters. We rolled into the Killington parking lot about 12:15 to t2b snow guns running on Superstar despite 36 degree temperatures. Seeing SallyCat’s post, I was afraid it would be busy, but the crowds had mostly dispersed. We snagged our lift tickets for $59 ($6 cheaper than last year), and hit the gondola. Please keep in mind that Killington has switched to RFID, so that price doesn’t include the $5 rechargeable lift card. The temperature at the top was 29 degrees, and the snow guns were still running full tilt. They have finally moved some guns to Great Northern off of the gondola to start connecting to the NRT so you don’t have to hike down. If they get another 24 hour window this week, that should be skiable, but they only had a dusting down while we were there. The hike down was shorter than I remembered. It’s a little more work, but truth be told, it’s worth it to be riding on October 22nd. As is expected this time of year, all open terrain had snowmaking in progress. Our first run was down Rime. This was the only open section where the guns were relatively dialed in. I stayed mostly to skiers right, but no snow stuck to my goggles and the snow on the ground was fairly dry. However, below Great Northern was a different story. The snow continually coated the goggles and the snow was very wet. A decent bump line formed outside the snow gun radius and provided for some fun turns however. Next we decided to hit Reason to East Fall. While Rime only had every other snow gun running, Reason and East Fall had them all going. The difference in snow quality was obvious immediately. Every gun on those trails was running wet and made it difficult to see and turn. Reason only had 2-3 features at the bottom near Great Northern. I would imagine that they will add a couple more for the weekend as they are able. We ended up doing 9 runs, most of them on Rime. Overall, it was great to be back on snow. They had decent base depths and should be able to weather any small warmup. I would expect traffic on the stairway to be one way by the weekend. It wasn’t the best early season day I have had at Killington, but when you put into perspective that it is October 22nd, you realize that it’s all pretty good. The hike back up the stairway was very manageable and definitely worth the product they were putting out. It was a good start to what hopefully ends up being a great season. FYI: Snowdon Six Pack and it’s associated trail work and tunnel work seems to be significantly behind schedule. Since that is the early season route to the bottom, it may need to be altered. They can’t make snow there right now, so I wonder how that will effect their next moves.

I don’t disagree. I just think that all these little issues with CB and their operating procedures degrade its popularity, especially with hardcore skiers and riders to the point where it can’t even be considered to be the best.

I have also started doing this at some of the lower end hotels I stay at. I mostly aim for mid grade well known chain hotels, but sometimes even they are a bit run down. Haven’t seen any yet, but it doesn’t hurt to check.

Hogwash. Just start skiing bumps whenever you have the chance. Even if it is just the edge of Barney’s where you can hop back onto the groomed surface. Bump skiing is just like tree skiing except without the trees. It really comes down to learning your quick turns and hop turns. Once you get into the woods for real, you’ll never want to hit groomers again.

Looks like a great early season day. How was the gondola and the new t2b route over the ski bridge? I definitely want to get back there, just don’t know if it will be this season. I always end up at Plattekill on a good snow day when I’m in the Catskillz.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Whiteface, but I’m definitely not hating on it. I would go back again. I still prefer Gore, but that’s just personal preference. I remember when you used to go to Stowe/Sugarbush every year. I always enjoyed those TR’s. Several were before I was at SR, and you always seemed to get it on good snow days. I was always jealous. Salty, if you’re looking for a new place in VT, you probably want to check out Sugarbush last. We just aren’t a groomer type mountain. Lots of fun in the trees and bumps, but grooming is definitely at a minimum on overall terrain.

I used to have Apple Pay on my phone, but when I went through an upgrade, it wiped it all, and I never went back. Now I just swipe or chip read. I’m not against it, I’m just lazy. I heard Killington had another record breaking year in terms of attendance, but still had some tickets available. I’m sure it was better for the access road businesses than it was Killington, but I’m sure they have figured out how to make a pretty penny after their 4th year at it. You’re adventurous for going out there Sally. I had a friend who worked there two years ago and had to run the shuttle bus, and he said it was absolute mayhem.